LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

We all have memories of shameful activity that hold us in bondage and keep us from living successfully in the present. The shame of the past shatters the success of the future. Shame produces the fear of ongoing disgrace and humiliation. Our enemy the Devil seeks to hold us in the bondage of past failures. Past experiences of failure resulting in shame immediately build self-protection defenses in us that we implement every time we are asked to take steps of faith. How many times has God spoken and we resisted because it reminded us of another time and another place where we experienced failure by trying?

Isaiah 54:4  “Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.”

Think back to when God promised Abraham and Sarah a son. Sarah had been humiliated by her peers because of her barrenness. They were disgraced by their attempts to solve the problem according to the flesh. And when God tells them to move forward in faith, He reminds them of their shame and how debilitating it will be if they don’t fully trust His Word. In essence He says to them, “I know how much you are hurting from your past, but do not let that stop you from receiving my future for you. If you will let go of the past, and by faith accept and act upon my promise, you will be set free from the bondage of that shame once and for all.”

Many of you today are living in the bondage of a past failure. You are stuck in the shackles of shame. You are not moving in faith because you are mired in fear. Today, seek the heart of God. Ask Him to reveal His will to you – He wants you to know it. And when you discover it, do it! Everything that caused shame in the past because you did it your way will be erased and replaced with the glory of God.

The shame of the past must not be allowed to shatter the success of the future. When God speaks – MOVE! Pastor John